First Grow in MA, Blue Dream:

Coming from a cross of Blueberry and Super Silver Haze, Blue Dream is now a crowd favorite. What makes it famous is the fact that it gives an easy going high that does not affect the smoker physically.

It gives the smoker an overwhelming calm which makes it rather easy to enjoy. Starting one’s day with it gives the feeling of a rather good and happy mood. So, anyone can smoke this up and run go through the day without the hated couch-potato effect.

It can be the reason why Fromanoc, a real, live, breathing scientist to grow one himself. In this journal, we documented how he started off not knowing much about cultivating marijuana and ending up with 8 jars full of one-quart jars.

December 7

Right off the bat, we can say that Fromanoc is no ordinary grower. As most cultivators would choose to germinate seeds in paper towels, he did it differently. Using Espoma Seed Starter Soil, he germinated five Blue Dream seeds from I Love Growing Marijuana (ILGM). Once the seeds sprouted, he would switch to Fox Farm’s Ocean Forest when he’s ready to transplant it to 5-gallon fabric pots.

Right now, one of his two 450 watts LED is lighting up the seeds in a 2 x 4 feet tent. The temperature is 72-78°F while the humidity is between 30-50%.

Yes, he knows that the humidity is quite low. To compensate, he sprays mist twice a day. At the same time, the wet paper towel should boost it up a little too. As for air circulation, there is the small ducted fan.

If all goes well, Fromanoc planned to fit four plants in the tent. He would also use one of them to be the mother plant of future clones.

December 13

He started the seeds on the 30th of November. While the plants appear to be doing well, there were some apprehensions a few days back. Not only did the growth stopped, but some leaves also drooped as well as show signs of discoloration.

Some of the possible culprits that came to mind were watering schedule, humidity level, temperature, the soil or lack of nutrients.

On the verge of desperation, Fromanoc transferred the plants to a larger pot with Fox Farm’s Ocean Forest Soil. Next, he increased the humidity from 30% to 55% with a wet towel inside the tent. Lastly, he gave them Dyna-Gro Growth at half strength for the first time.

The plants seemed to like it. Since the change, they have shown remarkable recovery growing a few millimeters daily.

Oh, he added something else to the mix. In the hope of adding more Nitrogen into the tent, he boiled some potato skins. Then, he added the potato water into the nutrient solution. Did we say that Fromanoc is an actual, living scientist?

December 16

Growers usually add more nutrients worm castings or fish powders to their soil. After much deliberation, Fromanoc elected not to add anything to the mix.

It has been 13 days since the seeds sprouted. All this time, there is a lingering doubt that one of the seeds may not be Blue Dream. Unlike the others, there was one that is a little bit bigger and looks paler.

Looking at the plants, his suspicion seems to have a basis. The plant on the left does not look the same as the others. Its leaves have a different shade of green. Not only that, the leaf structure is also not the same.

December 20

Here is what the plants look like in normal light. They already have some nodes growing. If he wants to grow some more, he may need to do some training on his girls. Fromanoc needs to move to prepare the plants for flowering.

December 21

He wants the first step in his preparation for flowering to be topping. Although, having five plants in a 2 x 4 feet tent would make it quite difficult. So, he wants to wait for a while first before topping them altogether.

Oh, by the way, he transferred them to 5-gallon pots this morning. Also, Dyna-Gro seems to work well with the plants. It helped the roots form wonderfully. Lovely, isn’t it?

December 30

It’s the plants’ 29th day from sprouting and so far, they are doing okay. He had finally topped them a few days ago. He gathered his toppings and planted them in small pots. Will he be successful in producing clones? Well, three days later they are still alive, so we hope so.

Anyway, remember the plant that looks a little bit different than the rest of the plants? There are two of them now and he is suspecting that they are a different phenotype.

Look at the plants on the right, their leaves are darker green in color. Also, they are a bit bushy with them pointing down. Also, the stems have a tinge of blue. Meanwhile, the two on the left have leaves that are a little bit lighter in color. Aside from pointing upwards, they also do not have anything blue in their stems.

January 28

Today is the 56th day. Fromanoc left us hanging for quite a while because he went away on a business trip. During that time, his girlfriend was left to take care of the plants. Because she is not really a grower, all they had for a few weeks were water. Good thing they did not die from lack of nutrients.

It is also becoming apparent that there are at least two phenotypes in the plants he grew. There will also be a lot of changes in the coming days. It was only some six days ago when he put them on 12/12 light cycle.

A week prior to switching to flowering, he was able to take some clones from his plants. So, he used some rooting hormones and Espoma Seed Starting Soil. Basically, he did everything he did with his seeds to his clones.

February 2

He started feeding the plants today with more Dyna-gro nutrients. He gave them “Foliage” and “Bloom” which helped bring the pH down. He also used “Pro-tek”, Dyna- Gro’s potassium silicate but increases the pH level a little bit. What he does to level it all down is by adding lemon juice to the water. With this method, he ends up with a pH level of 6.3.

Well, the nutrients he is using might be the culprits in making his plants look so good. In fact, the colas also look amazing. Some of them started showing signs of having purplish/bluish color, especially those that are near the fan.

One of his friends suggested that lowering the temperature and humidity could also help boost the yield. Fromanoc listened and added a 4-inch booster fan and reduced his humidifier’s power. He aimed to lower the RH level to at least 50%.

February 7

That bluish color is not the only discoloration around here. One plant has been showing signs of chlorosis. This is a condition in which there is a lack of green coloration in the leaves. It is one of the symptoms of iron deficiency. Most likely, its caused by inadequate lighting or wrong pH level. Also, the yellow coloring of the plants, which are usually found on the outer edges is at the center of the leaves.

So far, he has changed nothing with his nutes and watering schedule. He has been giving the plants filtered water with a pH level of 6.3 with Dyna-Gro’s “Foliage”. Next, he is also giving them a 50/50 mix of Dyna-Gro’s “Foliage” and “Bloom”. Then, he tops it off with “Pro-tek” or Dyna-Gro’s potassium silicate.

There could be a lot of possible deficiencies for this plant. It could be iron, zinc manganese, phosphorous, or it can also be excessive potassium. Since he still can’t figure out what it is yet, he will lower everything he’s giving the plants. Well, everything except water which he will give more so that he can test the run off.

The flower we can see above is one of the normal ones with the bluish colas. Fromanoc figures it is the result of having a “Blueberry” strained parent.

February 24

Wow, time flies by so fast when our grower is having fun. It’s already the 33rd day of flowering and his buds already have pistils. They are actually amber at this point so they should be ready for harvesting soon.

Meanwhile, the trichomes are half clear, half milky already. Fromanoc figures it will only take the plants a couple more days to finish. He will start flushing them soon and stop using the nutrients altogether. When he does, he will only be using RO (reverse osmosis) water.

There is one sad news, though. One plant is turning out to be a hermaphrodite. Someone pointed out his “banana seeds” which turned out to be pollen sacs that are starting to show.

March 15

Four plants already harvested and all with massive buds. Congratulations, Fromanoc. He also left one in the tent. This one seems to be a Sativa-dominant phenotype. It was also taller than the other plants.

He was able to fill five quart jars with the buds from the first four plants of his harvest.

March 17

It did not take that long for him to chop the fifth on down. Only two days later, he bids them goodbye. Not before taking photos of the massive buds of course.

When we say they are massive, we are not kidding.

His Blue Dream buds are no longer a dream, as soon as he cures these babies up. Well, he smoked a bud and claims it ripped him right off. One little bud has a THC level of 17-24%. But, it would only alter moods and not weigh down the body.

March 23

Fromanoc decided to let us in on a little secret. Remember how he was using Dyna-Gro’s “Foliage” and “Bloom”? He says it does not help with the bud’s growth. What he did was to use Fox Faduring the third week of flowering. Next, he used Fox Farm’s Cha Ching until harvest.

Those two are actually part of the three sequential nutrients used for flowering by Fox Farm. The first one is supposed to be Open Sesame which a grower is supposed to use as soon as he switches to flowering.

Anyway, even by only using the last two, he ended up with massive buds. Not bad since this is his first grow.

Imagine, all these only from the last plant itself:

Adding a Few Words to Fromanoc’s Mix

Blue Dream is one of the most sought-after strains to grow. Growers claim that it only takes so much to grow and gives off a lot of yield.

Well, following Fromanoc’s journal proves them right. He did not use very complicated equipment or nutrients on his grow. It makes this journal a perfect read for those who are only starting or learning about growing. Most of the things that he used are those that are easily accessible in hardware stores.

A great deal of his grow journal was spent on him asking questions about his grow. Some advices, he did follow while others were written down on his notebook for future reference. His questions are also helpful to other growers who picked up a lot from him and other growers.

He was not startled when one plant did not look the same as the others. Not even when the plants started showing signs of discoloration. With patience and perseverance, he was able to solve all his problems and fill out eight quart jars in one grow.